FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT CARGILL - PAGE 3

Everyone knows traders fish in troubled waters. So, with global commodity prices currently behaving like stormy seas, they would surely be hauling in megabucks, right? Wrong. Like the rest of us, the widespread uncertainty and anxiety has got traders in their grip. ET helps you join the dots. It is true the business thrives on fluctuations. When a commodity isscarce, traders know prices willrise up to the point where it reduces demand and stimulates investment in more production.

NEW DELHI: Is fat the next tobacco? Given the speed with which the world's biggest seed companies are launching new alternatives to common cooking oils and vanaspati, trans-fatty acids are set to become for Generation Next what nicotine was for the New Agers — the Devil by another name. Keen to cash in on consumer concerns about cholesterol, giants Monsanto, Dow AgroSciences and Cargill are introducing patented oils and oilseeds that promise to be virtually trans-fat-free without leaving your burgers limp.

MUMBAI: India's corporate biggies — Hindustan Lever, ITC, Godrej Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Cargill, Arvind Mills and the Adani group — have all zeroed in on a new asset class that promises to redefine their risk management practices. These corporates, who have an exposure to commodities, are now able to measure their risk better, thanks to the growing domestic commodity futures market. A good standardised contract, backed by a fool-proof delivery mechanism, is enticing India Inc to the new market.

NEW DELHI: Is fat the next tobacco ? Given the speed with which the world's biggest seed companies are launching new alternatives to common cooking oils and vanaspati, trans-fatty acids are set to become for Generation Next what nicotine was for the New Agers - the Devil by another name. Keen to cash in on consumer concerns about cholesterol, giants Monsanto, Dow AgroSciences and Cargill are introducing patented oils and oilseeds that promise to be virtually trans-fat-free without leaving your burgers limp.

Traders, eyes fixed on their screens, might be forgiven for dreaming of another way to earn a crust. For two such professionals, that vision took the form of a loaf. Tom Molnar, 46, who specialised in trading energy with Cargill Inc, helped create a bakery. Stephen Harrington, who worked in foreign exchange with Trade Development Bank, began more modestly, founding a baking school at his London home. "When I first started trading, it was very stressful and with this it was also very stressful," Molnar, who co-founded Gail's Artisan Bakery, said in an interview.

BOTH the Indian government and industry have attacked the new US farm Security and Rural Investment Act, 2002, as strongly indicative of the US' lack of commitment to agricultural trade reforms and designed to extend trade-distorting product subsidy to a range of agri commodities, ranging from cotton, honey, wool, milk, peanuts, lentil and dry peas under the guise of income support to farmers. The new Act, which authorises the government to increase farm spending by $73 billion and to hike crop subsidy by nearly $50 billion over 10 years is likely to be used to also rebuff US demands for domestic fertiliser subsidy reduction so that US imports are made easier.

NEW DELHI: Foreign brokerage houses will not be allowed to speculate on Indian commodity bourses, either through wholly-owned subsidiaries or a joint venture with local commodity brokers. All foreign cash for speculating on domestic commodity bourses will have to wait till the RBI is sure there is a strong regulator policing the rings. There is apprehension within the government that if foreign brokers are allowed on commodity exchanges, they would soon be demanding permission to trade in the physical wholesale markets of India as well.

NEW DELHI: State Bank of India will handle remittances of Cargill India Ltd, engaged in procurement, processing and storage of foodgrains, and its franchisees in parts of northern India. As per a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two entities, SBI will finance franchisees, agri-clinics and agri-business centres of Cargill. SBI will also finance farmers against warehouse receipts and under contract farming, the bank said in a statement here. The MoU covers the entire operational area of Delhi circle -- Rajashtan, western Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and three districts of Haryana.

NEW DELHI: Cargill India has finally turned to solidified fat. The American MNC is introducing a vanaspati brand, which is expected to pare the fat from the bottomlines of established players ? Dalda, Rath and Gagan. However, Cargill is not going to sell vanaspati under its existing Nature Fresh brand. A new brand "Purita" would be launched for vanaspati. It may be priced at around Rs 40/kg, which is the average price in the branded segment. Cargill sells atta, rice, edible oils and salt under its Nature Fresh brand, introduced two years ago. The branded vanaspati sector has already entered its melting zone, with crude oil prices rising sharply over the last few months without commensurate hike in consumer prices due to aggressive competition.

AHMEDABAD: The US-based agri business giant Cargill Inc plans to trade in futures contracts, options and derivatives on various domestic commodity exchanges in India. According to sources, Cargill will be carrying out these activities via its subsidiary Cargill India and would hedge physical commodity positions. The domestic trading activities of the company would be confined to bulk imports and export and ex-bonded warehouse sales and would not undertake domestic retail trading in any form.